Content descriptions

General Note:

Title from Playaway label. "HD." "LIGHT." Release date supplied by publisher. Previously released by HarperCollins Publishers, ℗2014. Issued on Playaway, a dedicated audio media player. One set of earphones and one AAA battery required for listening.

Participant or Performer Note:

Read by the author.

Summary, etc.:

Paige Rawl has been HIV positive since birth--but growing up, she never felt like her illness defined her. It never prevented her from entering beauty pageants or playing soccer or making the honor role. On an unremarkable day in middle school, while attempting to console a friend, Paige disclosed her HIV-positive status--and within hours the bullying began. She was called "PAIDS," first in whispers, then out in the open. Her soccer coach joked that she was an asset because opposing team members would be too afraid to touch her. Her guidance counselor told her to stop all the "drama," and her principal said she couldn't protect her. One night, desperate for escape, Paige swallowed fifteen sleeping pills--one for each year of her life to date. That could have been the end of her story; instead, it was only the beginning.